A community is grieving over the loss of a 21-year-old Bayonne man who died Friday from injuries sustained in a Thursday morning motorcycle crash.

John "Jack" Santopietro was remembered by relatives, friends and colleagues as a caring and spirited young man who had been determined to become a firefighter.
His life was cut short after his motorcycle crashed into a minivan at 10th Street and Avenue E.

The outpouring of grief was evident over the weekend at the crash site, where about 30 mourners created a makeshift memorial with dozens of votive candles and personal notes. Santopietro's grandmother, Maryann "Nanny" Johnson, at the memorial Sunday, struggled to talk about her grandson.

She described Santopietro as a "dynamite kid" who "loved everyone."
"When you saw him you just smiled. It didn't matter how depressed you were," Johnson said. "My daughter raised the most phenomenal kid in the world ... He was my life, my world. He was everything."

Santopietro was a repairman with the Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority with hopes of becoming a city firefighter. He was a student at Hudson County Community College studying criminal justice.

According to his Facebook page, Santopietro intended to transfer to New Jersey City University and study fire science. His hobbies were working out at the gym and dirt biking.

He was also active St. Henry's Church, where he was an alter server and CCD teacher and where he portrayed Jesus in the annual Stations of the Cross at Easter.
He was also an Eagle Scout.

Santopietro was injured Thursday when his 2003 Suzuki motorcycle collided with the front passenger side of a Toyota Sienna van driven by a 67-year-old woman, officials said.

Santopietro was taken to Bayonne Medical Center with severe head injuries after the crash and was later transferred to the Jersey City Medical Center where he died on Friday, according to family members and officials.

He was on the Civil Service list to become a firefighter in Bayonne, according to BMUA Executive Director Stephen Gallo who was also a Troop 35 scoutmaster to Santopietro at St. Henry's Church.

"This kid was one of the finest young men I have ever met in my life," Gallo said Sunday. "His life was just about to begin. He was always a caring young man who was concerned about other people ... The nicest kid you ever wanted to meet."

Santopietro's girlfriend, Diane Zygmund, 26, said she last saw him Thursday, just before he took off on his fateful ride.

"I am happy I had the time I did with him," she said Sunday, fighting back tears. "He will never be forgotten."

Santopietro's stunned sister Angel Abrams, 15, could only manage to say that her brother covered the walls of his bedroom with posters and memorabilia of his favorite football team, the Dallas Cowboys.

"Whatever he believed in he did to the fullest," said Chris Burns, 46, a member of the Brokenhearted Guardians, a children's cancer charity. "He put his heart into everything."
Viewing for Santopietro continues today at the G. Keenen O'Brien Funeral Home, 984 Avenue C from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow, March 23, at 10 a.m. at St. Henry's Church with interment at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.